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For a couple of reasons, I think I'm more concerned about who we take with our 2nd round pick than our first. Obviously, we need to nail our first round pick and they should be the best player in our class but I think despite the fact we have our favorite for who we take at four, I think there are several players we could take at 4 that we would be happy with. With the weakness in our system (esp. compared with other AL East teams) and the stated reliance of the draft by McPhail and management, we need to add another "impact" player in the 2nd (and other early rounds) if we have any hope of ever contending.

Anybody have some thoughts on who could be some good prospects that have a realistic possibility of falling to our 2nd round pick?

You should read around the 2011 Prospects forum and there is some thoughts about some players in 50-70 range. It all depends. I will most likely give a BPA list after the first round is completed, but there is some good depth.

I watched Pope pitch today against Clemson. He threw only one bad pitch the entire day, but it was crushed for a 3 run HR. He shows an outstanding curveball and change, but the fastest pitch I saw him throw all day was timed at 84 MPH. I just don't see that translating to Big league success.

In my ranks, Wong sits in the 60's. Wong sits on most lists in the 70's. While he could be gone with signability not being an issue, it should not be total surprise to you that he would be available in the second round.

Three guys that I hear are dropping like flies at the moment that could be solid options for round 2, if the Orioles like them and want to spend the money.

Matt Purke, Blake Swihart, and Austin Hedges

Purke has some sling action in his delivery and already concerns of injuries with larger workload. Still the kid can sling it. I like him as a late inning specialist that could advance quickly as did Dan Klein. You simply have to take the risk, but bullpen arms do not throw as often. Less throws, less risk....

Swihart and Hedges could be worth while options because simply look at Joe Mauer right now and think of the bonus it would be to spell Weiters days to prolong his catching career. You can never have enough left handed pitching and catchers in your system.

No problem...I think in that huge list on the 2011 prospects are my thoughts about the types of players that fit Joe Jordan's mold of toolsy athletic hybrid types (Givens, Avery, etc...) and some of the power arms that he likes to risk over his scouting and drafting time.

Regardless of which players are available to us I hope that Andy Mac is given a BIG budget to work with. There's a lot of talent in this draft and we may see some sign-ability players that will fall into the second through fifth round than can be had for double or triple slot money.

In the 2007 draft we picked Jake Arrieta in the fifth round (after losing the second, third and fourth picks for signing Walker, Baez, and Bradford) for I believe something north of a million dollars. He an Wieters may be the only two MLB regulars we see from that draft.

ofahn wrote:Regardless of which players are available to us I hope that Andy Mac is given a BIG budget to work with. There's a lot of talent in this draft and we may see some sign-ability players that will fall into the second through fifth round than can be had for double or triple slot money.

In the 2007 draft we picked Jake Arrieta in the fifth round (after losing the second, third and fourth picks for signing Walker, Baez, and Bradford) for I believe something north of a million dollars. He an Wieters may be the only two MLB regulars we see from that draft.

I completely agree... We need to really make a splash this year... Which brings up another issue I've been thinking about lately. Will Jordan's draft "philosophy" change at all this year because we have one less farm team (Bluefield) than in years past? (Actually we have 2 less farm teams if you count the DSL) I'd like to hope we have more flexibility to go after more high ceiling/high school players because we don't have as much need for organizational players to fill out as many farm teams.